Durban – Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa urged Ulundi residents on Tuesday to help police in their hunt for the killers of an ANC councillor.

Mthethwa said: “We call upon members of the community to come forward with information, no matter how little it may seem, which would assist in the apprehension and most importantly securing of convictions.”

The statement was issued after Mthethwa and the KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Betty Mmamonnye Ngobeni visited the family of the slain councillor Makhosonke Msibi in Ulundi.

Msibi was gunned down on Sunday night after returning from a meeting in Nongoma.

Police spokesman Lt-Col Vincent Mdunge said on Monday that a man knocked at the door of Msibi’s house. His son opened the door and a man asked to see the councillor.

According to Mdunge the man fired shots at Msibi when he emerged. The 48-year-old councillor sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was declared dead at the scene.

Mthethwa called for political tolerance ahead of the 2014

national elections.

“We are aware that we have now entered a silly season where some leaders would make inflammatory remarks which fuel violence and political intolerance. We urge them to exercise maturity and refrain from making remarks that are destructive and perpetuate killings and violence,” said Mthethwa.

Sapa

Durban – The death toll in last week’s bus accident near Pongola in northern KwaZulu-Natal has increased to seven, the community safety department said on Tuesday.

Five people initially died at the crash scene 15 kilometres from Pongola last Tuesday and one more succumbed to his injuries a while later.

A tyre burst on the N2 around 11am, causing the bus to crash into a wall, MEC Willies Mchunu’s office said in a statement.

Mchunu will attend a memorial service for the crash victims on Thursday.

Sapa

New Mamelodi Sundowns striker Cuthbert Malajila believes that a ‘one-game-at-a-time’ attitude will be key to his new team achieving success in 2013/14.

After finishing last season outside the top eight, Brazilians coach Pitso Mosimane went all out and bought a brand new team, including the Zimbabwean marksman from Maritzburg United, where he netted 13 goals in 2012/13.

On his Sundowns debut against Bloemfontein Celtic, the 27-year-old delivered a sterling performance – in the first half he set up Bongani Zungu with a sliding pass, only for the former Tuks midfielder to hit the post.

And in the second half, Malajila scored with a brilliant volley after a pin-point pass from Teko Modise.

“I know everyone is talking about Sundowns trying to win the League title, but we need to take it one game at a time,” he tells KickOff.com.

“It is too early to start saying Kaizer Chiefs or Orlando Pirates will give us a fight because there are 29 matches remaining. All the teams still have a chance and we need to take them very seriously. There’s a long road ahead of us.”

Malajila is in the best form of his career and despite facing competition from the likes of Katlego Mashego, Katlego Mphela and Richard Henyekane, he is likely to be Mosimane’s first-choice striker this season.

However, he refuses to set targets for this season.

“How many goals do I want to score? I can’t say. I believe in myself, but I don’t have targets.

“The coach spoke to me after our camp in Limpopo and he told me exactly what he wants and he made it clear that his plans will depend on the opponents we will be facing.”
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Lebohang ‘Cheeseboy’ Mokoena has been cleared to resume full training, but admits he is still withdrawn at training.

Mokoena underwent a hip operation almost a year ago. In fact, the last time ‘Cheeseboy’ played for Mamelodi Sundowns in an official match was on September 2 in a 2-1 loss to Maritzburg United.

The player tells the club’s official website he is keen to get back into action: “The vibe is very positive here at Chloorkop and its plain to see that the players are determined to do very well this season and I can’t afford to miss that.”

Sundowns’ website reports: “According to the team doctors the player is now working to regain full fitness, but Mokoena admitted that he doesn’t want to rush himself.”

The 26-year-old has been out for so long he says he feels like a new player!

“I’m very excited to be cleared off the injury list and I feel like a completely new player because I haven’t played football for a long time” ‘Cheeseboy’ tells Sundowns’ official website.

Mokoena has already featured in two club practise matches, coming on as a late substitute against Azam FC of Tanzania and playing the whole second half when the first team played Sundowns reserves.

The fan favourite says he is commited to doing extra work on his fitness, but admits he still has to work on his mental strength.

“At training I really want to get involved in the thick of things but whenever I see strong tackles fly at training I still get withdrawn a little bit. You see once you have been out injured for too long, you definitely will do anything to avoid going back there.

“I know my fitness levels and right now I’m nowhere near that but I’m putting in extra training on my legs, sometimes before and after training because I’m very determined to play for the team once again.”
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Ajax Cape Town will have waited a month before they play their second League fixture.

Ajax played their first match against Golden Arrows on August 3.

Arrows vs Ajax report

The Urban Warriors were scheduled to play a League match against Orlando Pirates next Tuesday, but owing to Pirates’ participation in the MTN8 the fixture has been postponed.

Bucs were drawn against their Soweto rivals Kaizer Chiefs in the MTN8 semi-finals. Both legs will be played next week, with the first on August 20 and 21, and the return legs on August 24 and 25.

Precise dates and venues are yet to be confirmed.

Ajax coach Muhsin Ertugral says the situation is far from acceptable, but admits there is nothing he can do.

“It’s the start of the season we only had one game, you start the season with playing one game and then four weeks you don’t play a game, but I’m not complaining about it because it’s out of my hands,” Ertugral tells KickOff.com.

Meanwhile, the Cape side have decided to register Cole Alexander for the after he impressed Ertugral at training.

The midfielder’s future with Ajax was uncertain after the club decided they already had enough cover in the middle of the park, but they have decided to register him after all.

Ajax’s next match is against AmaZulu on September 1, while the game against Pirates has not yet been scheduled.
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Arrigo Sacchi insists Real Madrid’s pursuit of Gareth Bale is nothing more than a ‘commercial stunt’.

The Spanish giants’ chase of the Tottenham Hotspur winger has dominated headlines over the past month, with a €120-million transfer apparently mooted.

However, the former Real director of football doesn’t believe the move will be purely for footballing reasons.

“€120-million is a huge amount of money,” Sacchi tells Meridiano. “I think it’s just a commercial stunt. For Real Madrid to take a British player, it’s probably for sponsor-related reasons.”

Sacchi had a brief spell at the Bernabeu between 2004 and 2005.
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Bidvest Wits have turned down Mpumalanga Black Aces’ request to take goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane on a season-long loan deal.

Aces, who only have two keepers on their books in Calvin Marlin and Bafana Nhlapo, had enquired about the former youth international last month.

Mabokgwane has found himself further down the pecking order following the arrival of Moeneeb Josephs and Denis Onyango, while the club still has teenage keepers Steven Hoffman and Jethren Barr.

Wits CEO Jose Ferreira confirms there was interest in Mabokgwane’s services from Aces, but that they will not be releasing him.

“There was interest from Aces, but we are not doing anything there because we need him. After what happened to our goalkeepers last season we need all the keepers that we have now,” he tells KickOff.com.

Last season Wits were left in crisis after Emille Baron, Ryan Harrison, Hoffman and Mabokgwane all went down with injuries, forcing the club to call Andre Arendse out of retirement four years after he had ended his playing career.

Meanwhile, Polokwane City appear to have frozen their interest in Wits defender Tlou Molekwane, despite the two clubs having already reached an agreement a fortnight ago.

“There was interest from Polokwane City and we had an agreement, but then it ended there because since then we never heard from them again,” says Ferreira.

Molekwane has battled for game-time since arriving from Kaizer Chiefs last season and is also further down the pecking order at right-back behind S’boniso Gumede and Katlego Pule.
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The 19th edition of the Nelson Mandela Challenge sees South Africa take on reigning African champions Nigeria at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Wednesday evening.

In the first of two matches this week in honour of the great Madiba – SA will also take on Burkina Faso in the inaugural Nelson Mandela Sports and Culture Day at FNB Stadium on Saturday – Gordon Igesund’s side will have the massive challenge of trying to put one over the Super Eagles.

Nigeria claimed their third continental title earlier this year, defeating Burkina Faso in the AFCON final at FNB Stadium. Returning the team to the scene of their recent triumph will bring back good memories for coach Stephen Keshi.

The Eagles also have predominantly good memories of playing against Bafana Bafana, with the West Africans very much the dominant team in the rivalry. In seven meetings of the sides down the years, they boast five wins compared to just one for SA.

However, the good news for Igesund and his side is that Bafana’s lone win against Nigeria was in the Nelson Mandela Challenge back in 2004. On that occasion, South Africa won 2-1 in Johannesburg.

It is the second successive year in which Bafana are taking on the reigning African champions for the Mandela Challenge; last year they lost 1-0 to Zambia at FNB Stadium, with Collins Mbesuma scoring the only goal.

Overall, Bafana have seven wins, four draws and seven losses in 18 previous Mandela Challenge matches. Their last win was over Norway (2-1) in the 2009 edition.

SA v Nigeria – previous meetings
1994 World Cup qualifier, 10/10/1992, Lagos – Nigeria 4-0 South Africa
1994 World Cup qualifier, 16/01/1993, Johannesburg – South Africa 0-0 Nigeria
2000 AFCON second round, 10/02/2000, Lagos – South Africa 0-2 Nigeria
2004 AFCON first round, 31/01/2004, Monastir – Nigeria 4-0 South Africa
2004 Friendly, 17/11/2004, Johannesburg – South Africa 2-1 Nigeria
2010 World Cup/AFCON qualifier, 01/06/2008, Abuja – Nigeria 2-0 South Africa
2010 World Cup/AFCON qualifier, 06/09/2008, Port Elizabeth – South Africa 0-1 Nigeria

Nelson Mandela Challenge history

1994 South Africa 2-1 Zambia
1995 South Africa 1-1 Argentina
1996 South Africa 2-3 Brazil
1997 South Africa 0-2 Netherlands
1998 South Africa 2-1 Egypt
1999 South Africa 1-0 Sweden
2000 South Africa 0-0 France
2002 South Africa 1-1 Senegal – Senegal won 4-1 on penalties
2003 South Africa 2-1 Costa Rica
2004 South Africa 2-1 Nigeria
2005 South Africa 2-3 Senegal
2006 South Africa 0-1 Egypt
2007 South Africa 0-1 USA
2008 South Africa 3-2 Cameroon
2009 South Africa 2-1 Norway
2010 South Africa 0-1 USA
2011 South Africa 1-1 Cote d’Ivoire
2012 South Africa 0-1 Zambia
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Middlesbrough and Bournemouth have been told to up their bids to land South African striker Tokelo Rantie.

Both Championship clubs have tabled bids just under £1-million (R15-million), but that was rejected by Swedish club Malmo. And agent Nadime Mahmoud has warned it will take a big offer to lure Rantie to England, with French club St Etienne also interested.

“Malmo don’t want to sell so we have to respect that,” he says. “They do not have a chance to find a replacement because the transfer window closed on Sunday.

“But it would be a good opportunity for Tokelo to go to England one day. We will have to see whether they will match the club’s valuation or he will stay.”

Rantie, who has seven goals in 15 League matches so far this season, signed a long-term deal at Malmo in April, having joined initially on loan from Orlando Pirates.
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Mamelodi Sundowns are almost close to sealing the signing of Zambian midfield genius Mukuka Mulenga following protracted negotiations that have dragged on for months.

KickOff.com has established that the transfer now hinges on the finalisation of Mulenga’s personal terms with his club Power Dynamos, having already agreed on the transfer estimated at R3million and a 20 percent sell-on for the Zambian Super League club.

Mukuka will complete his move to Sundowns on a four-year deal.
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